Complaints against used car dealer continue

Friday

Aug 1, 2014 at 2:00 AM

The Auto Smart car dealer on Yarmouth Road in Hyannis dismissed a customer complaint as solved at a licensing authority show cause hearing July 28, but the board and the head of the town’s Regulatory Services said "not so fast."

Susan Vaughn

Licensing authority takes hard line with Auto Smart

The Auto Smart car dealer on Yarmouth Road in Hyannis dismissed a customer complaint as solved at a licensing authority show cause hearing July 28, but the board and the head of the town’s Regulatory Services said “not so fast.”

After Attorney Peter Freeman announced that the customer complaint had been withdrawn and the customer was satisfied, Regulatory Services Director Richard Scali said this was the fourth or fifth complaint he had received about the company in the last year and a half.

Another unhappy customer also appeared at the meeting to describe her difficult experience with the company.

Scali said Darrell Fitz, the manager, “seems not to handle customers’ complaints. There should be a change in how he deals with them. I have genuine concern with his operations and the commission should be {concerned} in the future.”

At the end of the meeting, Scali said, “We need to revoke the license.”

Lt. John Murphy, police liaison to the authority, said he agreed with Scali’s comments, and noted that no other auto dealer has had as many complaints. “I don’t want to see Fitz coming before us 20 more times,” he said.

“I don’t want to see this gentleman before us again,” authority Vice Chairman Gene Burman added.

Scali said the company should present the board with a plan for changing its practices. Freeman said he would suggest Fitz prepare a business plan.

At the end of the meeting after the Auto Smart representatives left, Zabida Brown-Williams told the authority how she had been trying to get the Jeep she bought from Auto Smart in January fixed. She said she had returned many times since February and was told the loud noise in the front of the car was repaired, but it continued.

She returned to Auto Smart in June and made an appointment for early July, only to be turned away. She said Fitz was “very disrespectful,” cursed and threatened her.

Scali said her complaints about Fitz were similar to the others he had received and he was concerned that Brown-Williams felt unsafe. Murphy offered to send a police officer with her if she had to return to the company.

The authority scheduled another hearing on her complaint for Aug. 25 with Fitz present.

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